[amsat-bb] AO-7 Sounding Great Today!

[Paul Stoetzer]

On the last pass of AO-7, I was trying out various power levels as it
was a nearly overhead pass of a maximum elevation of 81 degrees. With
just 20 degrees of elevation, I heard my downlink at S8 while running
500 mW to my Elk. With about 7 dBd of gain at 432 MHz, I estimate my
EIRP to have been around 4 watts.

With a feedline of 8 feet of LMR-240, my losses at 432 MHz are very
low, but it shows you how little power it takes to get a good signal
from the transponders.

Thanks to KC7MG and W4VAS for the QSOs on AO-7 at 500 mW PEP.

73,

Paul Stoetzer, N8HM
Washington, DC (FM18lv)